United Indralan Commonwealth
The United Indralan Commonwealth was a state which existed on the island of Indrala from the end of the Zhen period until its collapse in 1450 CE. History Following a period in which various territories held fluctuating power, the Kingdom of Beizhou emerged as the most powerful led by Shuro Dureas. Born in a peasant village, he joined the King's army and rapidly rose through the ranks. Eventually, the king adopted Shuro as his son and heir. Upon the king's death in 1210, Shuro began an ambitious campaign against Beizhou's neighbouring states. Utilising his vast armed forces, he was able to unite the rest of Indrala under his rule in 1213, aged just 20. Declaring himself "Paramount Leader" (Indralan: Zuìgāo lǐngdǎorén), he created the United Indralan Commonwealth (Indralan: 合众英大拉联邦王国 or Gezhong Yingdala Lianbang Wangguo). Shuro split his new state between various nobles and commanders, granting them titles and authority in order to ensure the Commonwealth remained united. Underneath the paramount leader, the most powerful title was that of "Beiyi", regional commanders. One notable example was Deng Qihong of Clan Deng, the Beiyi of Akuzia. When Shuro died in 1254, he left no heirs to his territory and provided no mechanism through which to determine one. In order to ensure the state survived, the Beiyis convened to decide the future of the Commonwealth. It was decided that all nobles, including the Beiyis, would be entitled to elect the paramount leader from among their ranks. Recently, this system has been described as an 'elective monarchy' however the lack of real hereditary noble family makes this characterisation somewhat inaccurate. At their first meeting, called a 'free election', the 3rd Beiyi of Akuzia Deng Puqi was the first elected Paramount Leader of United Indralan Commonwealth. In the period that followed, nobles from Clan Tan of Quibashi, Clan Liang of Kathuran, Clan Li of Luratha, and Clan He of Mishari Karula would all hold the position. Generally, the Commonwealth period was characterised not as a time of great economic prosperity but of significant cultural development nonetheless. Retrospectively, it has been called the Indralan Golden Age (Indralan: Gudian Gudai). Arts and literature experienced a surge in popularity, with dozens of Indrala's most famous classical pieces dated to the Commonwealth era. Additionally, it was during this time the terms yingdalaren or simply yingren entered popular usage to describe native Indralan culture as well as yingdalayu for the spoken and written language. The native name for the island, yingdala was the source of these terms and remains the name for the country domestically although the westernised Indrala has overtaken in foreign countries. Nevertheless, the Commonwealth collapsed in 1450 in the wake of an intense dispute over crop production. In the populous peasant south, rice was cultivated due to its cheap price and relative abundance. The ruling nobility, mainly based in the north, favoured growing corn instead as it was, in their view, better tasting and perceived as more prestigious. Switching to corn production was expensive and risky, though, and many southern nobles supported their citizen's decision. Consequently, the Commonwealth was split between the various Beiyis, each with their own allies and rivals. Category:History of Indrala